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Alcohol disrupts body's sleep regulator

Around 20% of adult Americans use alcohol - known to be a powerful sleep inducer - to
help them fall asleep. However, new research shows that while alcohol may bring on
sleepiness, it can disrupt sleep and, over time, cause insomnia by interfering with the
body's system for regulating sleep.

Researchers found that alcohol interferes with sleep homeostasis - the brain's built-in mechanism that regulates sleepiness and wakefulness - and can lead to insomnia.

Researchers from the University of Missouri (MU) School of Medicine in Columbia, MO,
report their findings in the journal Alcohol. They have been studying the
relationship between alcohol consumption and sleep for over 5 years.

Lead researcher Mahesh Thakkar, associate professor and director of research in MU School
of Medicine's Department of Neurology, says the prevailing view is that alcohol induces
sleep by altering circadian rhythm - the body's 24-hour clock:

Sleep homeostasis is how the body balances a person's need for sleep according to how long
they have been awake. To do this, it uses adenosine, a chemical produced naturally in
cells.

The level of adenosine outside of cells goes up during prolonged periods of wakefulness
and goes down again during sleep. When the extracellular adenosine level goes up, it blocks
the wake-promoting cells in the basal forebrain. When it goes down again, the block is lifted,
and the wake-promoting cells become active.

Thus, if a person goes to sleep earlier than usual, the resulting shift in sleep
homeostasis may cause them to wake up in the middle of the night or very early in the
morning.

Alcohol causes shift in sleep homeostasis by boosting adenosine

The researchers carried out a series of experiments with mice and rats to study what
happens to adenosine in the brain when alcohol is present.

They found that alcohol boosts extracellular levels of adenosine, which in turn induces sleep by
blocking the wake-promoting cells of the basal forebrain.

Co-author Dr. Pradeep Sahota, chair of MU School of Medicine's Department of Neurology,
says based on these results, "it's clear that alcohol should not be used as a sleep aid:"

"Alcohol disrupts sleep and the quality of sleep is diminished," he adds, "Additionally,
alcohol is a diuretic, which increases your need to go the bathroom and causes you to wake up
earlier in the morning."

In another part of the study, the researchers also investigated the effect of alcohol
withdrawal on sleep. They found after extended periods of binge-drinking, sleep came quickly
as expected, but within a few hours, wakefulness set in, preventing a return to sleep.

Also, when alcohol was withdrawn, insomnia set in, as Prof. Thakkar explains:

The team now plans to take their studies further and explore other effects of alcohol
consumption.

'Alcohol not a good way to solve sleep problems'

Prof. Thakkar says we spend around a third of our lives sleeping. Add to that the fact
around 20% of people drink alcohol to get to sleep, "it's vital that we understand how the
two interact."

He also urges people not to use alcohol to solve their sleep problems:

"Talk to your doctor or a sleep medicine physician to determine what factors are keeping
you from sleeping. These factors can then be addressed with individualized treatments."

The researchers note in their background information that in the US, the "societal costs
of alcohol-related sleep disorders exceed $18 billion."

Grants from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism and resources from the
Harry S. Truman Memorial Veterans' Hospital helped fund and support the study.

Meanwhile, Medical News Today recently learned of another new study that suggests
altered sleep-wake protein is linked to cancer. There,
researchers found that hPer2 - a protein that regulates circadian rhythm - also protects
against cancer, and that disrupting circadian rhythm alters the function of hPer2 and may
lead to cancer development.

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